Jennison Associates LLC Has $59.78 Million Stock Position in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation $CPK

Jennison Associates LLC lowered its stake in Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 479,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 50,125 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Utilities were worth $59,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPK. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Chesapeake Utilities by 831.0% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 511,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,884,000 after buying an additional 456,497 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 27.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 952,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,231,000 after purchasing an additional 205,742 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Chesapeake Utilities during the third quarter worth $19,604,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 92.5% during the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 270,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,453,000 after purchasing an additional 130,071 shares during the period. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Utilities by 1,395.0% during the third quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 131,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,647,000 after purchasing an additional 122,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CPK. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chesapeake Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Barclays set a $142.00 price target on shares of Chesapeake Utilities and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Chesapeake Utilities in a report on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.00.

Chesapeake Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CPK opened at $126.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $129.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.68. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has a 1-year low of $115.24 and a 1-year high of $140.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.16 by ($0.22). Chesapeake Utilities had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $258.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Chesapeake Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Chesapeake Utilities has set its FY 2028 guidance at 7.750-8.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.685 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Chesapeake Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.82%.

Chesapeake Utilities Company Profile

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK) is a diversified energy services holding company headquartered in Dover, Delaware. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company engages in natural gas distribution, transmission and storage; propane distribution; wholesale propane supply; and contract compression and natural gas liquids processing. Its core mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective energy solutions to residential, commercial and industrial customers across multiple U.S.